Altstadt

Altstadt of Tübingen

Altstadt of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in 1900

Altstadt is the German language word for "old city", meaning "historical city centre within the city wall", in contrast to a Neustadt built outside later.

Most German towns have an Altstadt, even though the ravages of war have destroyed many of them, especially during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). In the "War of the Palatinian Succession" of 1688, the order to Brûlez le Palatinat! was executed by Mélac, devastating many cities and large parts of South Western Germany, like the Heidelberg castle.

Allied Strategic bombing during World War II destroyed nearly all large cities, with Dresden being the most prominent victim. Many smaller towns remained intact, for example Tübingen, Dinkelsbühl or Quedlinburg. Some Altstadt parts in Freiburg, Berlin, Rothenburg ob der Tauber and famously Weimar have been painstakingly restored. Some German Altstädte, with gabled half-timbered houses and cobblestone markets, have been overhauled after copy-cat places had been built abroad to mimic them, like in 1955 the first Fantasyland in Disneyland.

Notable Altstadt districts in cities and towns

Austria

Germany

Switzerland

Other towns

Notable Altstadt districts in cities that formerly were inhabited also by a German-speaking population

• de:Prager Altstadt (Old Town, Prague)

Notable Altstadt districts in cities and towns that were destroyed

• de:Altstadt (Königsberg)

“Old Cities”

There is a number of sites that in English are labelled with a fixed term “Old City of ...” or “Old ...”(in German they are as well called “Altstadt”).

• Old City of Bethlehem
• Old Cairo
• Old City of Damascus
• Old City (Jerusalem)
• Old Tbilisi

Gallery

Castles of Bellinzona	Greifensee and its castle, as seen from the Gallus chapel	Lausanne and its cathedral	Altstadt of Rapperswil (SG) located at Lake Zürich
Altstadt of Schaffhausen, as seen from Munot	Altstadt (parts of: Schipfe) and Lindenhof hill in Zürich

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